Western Carolina University Faculty Senate Guidelines for the Constitution and
Mission of the Liberal Studies Task Force 2009
The mission of the Liberal Studies Task Force is to assess the current Liberal Studies
Program to determine whether or not it serves our students optimally in the context of the
new guiding principles for the University, including the QEP, the UNC Tomorrow report,
and the Stewardship of Place model. If the Task Force determines that there is need for
changes to the Liberal Studies Program, the Liberal Studies Task Force will recommend
them based on their assessment. These recommendations would then become the basis
for a revised or replaced Liberal Studies Program document.
During the first stage in this process, which will begin with the 2009/2010 academic year,
the Liberal Studies Task Force will gather information about the current Liberal Studies
Program from a wide range of faculty and other constituents at WCU in order to
summarize the Program’s strengths and weaknesses. The resulting report will combine
this summary with a rationale for retaining, modifying, or reforming the Liberal Studies
Program. The completion of this report will be followed by a period of comment and
review by the faculty.
If changes to the Liberal Studies Program are considered necessary, the Liberal Studies
Task Force will begin a second stage of work in which they produce a set of
recommendations to improve the Liberal Studies Program in the context of the new
guiding principles of the University. The Task Force would again seek a wide range of
faculty input while producing this report. The completion of this second report would
also be followed by a period of comment and review by the faculty. Following this
second review period, the Task Force would then produce a new Liberal Studies Program
document, which would be submitted to the Liberal Studies Oversight Committee, the
Academic Policy and Review Council, and the Faculty Senate for approval.
Membership on the Liberal Studies Task Force will comprise between 20-25 faculty
members, determined by the ratio of full-time faculty in that College relative to the total
number of full-time faculty at the University. Task Force members will be elected by the
faculty in their Colleges, in a special election administered by CONECC.